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Music doesn’t have to take itself seriously, and I think we often forget that. If you’re in the mood for good entertainment, catchy music, but also a lot of nonsense, then STESY and KING NUGGET GANG are a good place to start. How fitting, then, that these two bands found their way to Leipzig on February 20, 2026. SOLACE rounded out the package as local support. Here you can find out what it was like, why avocados suck, and which bus we luckily didn’t miss!
Many thanks to lightinmirror.de for your photographic support!
SOLACE
Dresden, known as the “Florence of the Elbe,” is definitely a city of culture, and I think you’ll agree when I say that Dresden also has a whole host of good metal bands to offer. SOLACE, who kicked off the evening at Hellraiser Leipzig with their modern metal, are part of this circle.
Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the music; it’s what’s really popular right now, and the band is able to give this music its own touch. They approach each song with a lot of passion, and that’s really fun!
The only problem was that both KING NUGGET GANG and STESY approach their songs and performances with much more tempo and energy, creating a much better atmosphere right from the start. I felt that was missing a little here. I had the impression that SOLACE needed another song or two to really get their show going. The cover of Break Stuff in particular also made it clear that these guys know how to get the crowd going. But I’m sure that with upcoming shows and more experience, this will soon be remedied!
KING NUGGET GANG
Let me say this right at the outset: I don’t know anything about rap or rapcore, so I was a bit at a loss as to what I was actually experiencing with KING NUGGET GANG! I usually avoid bands like this, but I was proven wrong!
As I said at the beginning, music doesn’t always have to be completely meaningful or profound, and KING NUGGET GANG knows how to do that well. A song about noodles? Absolutely! A song about ice cream? Ice Ice Baby! A song about why avocados suck? SIGN ME UP! The latter song in particular really spoke to me and I felt so understood! Nowadays, it seems like you can’t get anything without avocado, and it was really liberating to finally have someone address this issue!!!!
It was generally a tasty mix of delicious topics, and the musicians involved throw a party that just tastes good! The songs have catchy hooks, always a slightly ironic tone, and the potential to stay with you for the rest of the evening. It’s German rap with breakdowns, and I surprisingly liked this combination!
I also particularly liked the interaction with the audience, which was mainly expressed in the involvement of the fans in the show. Sometimes you let the fans sing along, other times you start a circle pit, in the middle of which you stand, and then there were also a few pool noodles that were handed out.
Funnily enough, we ate a few nuggets before the show, and because we are cultured people, they were chicken nuggets in the shape of farm animals, because the dinosaur nuggets were sold out. When we opened the packet of nuggets, it turned out that most of them were shaped like pigs. Okay, there were also two roosters and a cow, but the fact that most of the CHICKEN nuggets were shaped like pigs seems to me to be a suspicious circumstance… Dear KING NUGGET GANG: You should write a song about this!
STESY
STESY are no strangers to this website, not least because of their infectious cheerfulness and the fun they spread. That evening was no different, and I was particularly excited to experience the live feel of their current album Turn Up the Crazy.
Fittingly, the sounds of Sailor Moon echoed through the small room at Hellraiser to kick things off. The song is the epitome of pink glitter neon sparkle energy, and it was the perfect way to get in the mood for the upcoming set. True to their motto, “All party, no clean vocals!”, STESY turned up the heat from the very first second and filled the Hellraiser with their energy. Literally! Because there was so much fog that once again you couldn’t really see anything… The small club is really not a good location for this, and I don’t understand why they always do it this way…
But anyway, back to the Austrian party animals! I particularly noticed that since their tour with VENUES last year, they have really improved their stage presence and perform as if they have never done anything else. STESY just works, and you can clearly see the hard work behind the scenes in the way they interact with each other on stage. Every chord, every glance, every movement is spot on, and it’s just so damn professional! The special appearances, such as those by Trichter Alexander Hold or the Party Patrol, come at just the right moments and refocus the audience on what’s important: the party!
And what a party it was! There was dancing, singing along, sweating in the pit, and it honestly felt like we could go on forever. The highlight was definitely the feature with the KING NUGGET GANG on Ketch it Up!, where everyone was back on stage together for the We like to Party cover. The destination of the STESY bus? Escalation City, and we all got there somehow, because the place was ON FIRE! No wonder that towards the end of the set, loud “Encore! Encore!” shouts from the audience. For us, this once again impressively demonstrated why we always want to see STESY live: No matter how bad you feel and no matter how stressed you are, the guys always offer a more than fitting distraction with their infectious energy, and that’s the best thing an artist can give their audience!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 